2 MANITOBANS NAMED TO WJAC TEAM CANADA WEST ROSTER

CALGARY, Alta. – The rosters for Team Canada East and Team Canada West are set for the 2017 World Junior A Challenge in Truro, N.S., Dec. 10-16.

Of the 22 players selected to represent Team Canada East following a four-day selection camp in Etobicoke, Ont., which wrapped up Tuesday, five (Evans, Girduckis, Johnston, McBain, Theocharidis) were part of last year’s team that captured silver.

On Team Canada West, four players (Gaber, Johnson, Turnbull, Tychonick) return to the line-up – including Carter Turnbull (Nanaimo, B.C./Powell River, BCHL), who will make his third tournament appearance. The players were selected from among 60 who attended the Calgary selection camp.

“We’ve seen some great Canadian hockey talent over the four days of camps, and both teams had difficult decisions to make to pare it down to 22 players per roster,” said Brent Ladds, president of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. “This will be a great event, and the two teams will make Canadians very proud.”

The 2017 World Junior A Challenge is presented by Hockey Canada, the CJHL, and Hockey Nova Scotia, in partnership with NHL Central Scouting.

Team Canada East will open this year’s tournament against Russia in prime time on Sunday, Dec. 10, when the World Junior A Challenge returns to Atlantic Canada this December. Team Canada West will open its tournament against the Czech Republic at 3:30 p.m. AT on Dec. 10.

The RECC Arena in Truro will also host two pre-tournament games on Friday, Dec. 8. At 3:30 p.m. AT, the Czech Republic will take on the Truro Bearcats, while Team Canada East will play Team USA at 7:30 p.m. that same evening. Team Canada West and Russia will travel to nearby Amherst for a 7:30 p.m. pre-tournament game on Dec. 8 as well as a warm-up to the official puck-drop on the World Junior A Challenge on Dec. 10.

The World Junior A Challenge is made possible thanks to the partnership between Hockey Canada, the CJHL, and NHL Central Scouting, and features two Canadian teams, representing East and West, as well as four international teams vying for a gold medal. Nine of the 11 gold-medal games at the World Junior A Challenge have featured at least one Canadian team. Team Canada West won gold at the first two tournaments, in 2006 and 2007, and also took home gold in 2011 and 2015. The team also won silver medals in 2008, 2009, and 2012, as well as bronze in 2013. Team Canada East won silver medals in 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2016, as well as claiming the bronze medal in 2008.